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Harold Ramis' Daughter Speaks Out: Stop Using My Dad as an Excuse to Hate the New 'Ghostbusters'

By John Boone 4:00 PM PDT, July 14, 2016

Sony Pictures

Ghostbros just lost their last excuse to smear the Ghostbusters reboot.

Some of the most outspoken haters of Paul Feig's reboot have claimed to do so in Harold Ramis' name -- especially seeing as the rest of the cast is fine with the remake, as they all make cameos. Now, Ramis' daughter, Violet Ramis Stiel, speaks out in support of the new Ghostbusters in an op-ed for Splitsider.

"I mourn my dad's absence in this world as much, if not more, than anyone, but for people to say that he is 'rolling in his grave' or would never have let a female-centered cast happen is INSANE," she writes.

"In his personal life, Harold Ramis was a kind, generous, and gracious person," Stiel adds. "Professionally, he was always about sharing the spotlight and making the other guy look good. Please, stop using my dad as an excuse to hate the new Ghostbusters. It degrades his memory to spew bile in his name."

In the essay, Stiel recalls her father trying to make Ghostbusters III happen during his lifetime -- he died in 2014 -- and says there were "many reasons" it never panned out. "The well-documented 20-year rift between my dad and Bill was a factor," she gossips. "But not the deciding one."

She also admits that she had "mixed feelings" about the reboot when it was announced, but claims Ramis had already "accepted" that the inevitable next installment would not feature the original four Ghostbusters.

"[He] enjoyed coming up with various scenarios about how the torch could be passed to a new generation. He liked the idea of a more diverse cast and once, in casual conversation, imagined a team made up of Kal Penn, Chris Rock, Jack Black, and Maya Rudolph," she reveals.

As for the new cast that was chosen -- Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones -- Stiel knows for a fact that her dad was a fan, revealing she saw him "shaking with laughter" while watching Bridesmaids in his hospital bed.

"I went back and forth between Hmmm, that actually sounds kind of awesome and NO! I still can’t support it. Harold, Harold, he’s our man, if he can’t do it, no one can!" she admits of her own feelings. "Then I started reading comments. O-M-G."

"From flat-out rejection of women as funny, to remarks about the actor’s looks, to the invocation of GB84 as 'untouchable' and disgust with 'reboot culture' generally, I was shocked by the anger and outrage," she explains.

Stiel concludes with this moving endorsement of the new Ghostbusters:

"The new movie is not the original and it’s not trying to be. Give it a chance and go see it! Or don’t, that’s fine. But resist the urge to hold on so tightly to the past that you choke off new life. I reserve my right as an almost 40-year-old to mutter about how everything was better when I was young, but let’s let this generation have their own Ghostbusters. Let’s give my nine-year-old daughter a chance to put on a proton pack and feel like a badass. In the spirit of my dad and his love for movies and comedy above all, I’ll be there for Ghostbusters 2016 opening weekend with my kids, eating popcorn, wearing my Egon Spengler tribute pin, cheering on the new crew, and laughing loudly, from the heart."

Meanwhile, McCarthy hit back at haters saying the movie is ruining their childhood, joking, "I just hope they find a friend." Check out her response in the video below.